REALTOR® Voter Guide
It’s election time, and your association has prepared a Voter Guide to help you decide how you will vote. Inside the Voter Guide, we have given you important information about the voting process and where to vote. We have also listed all the candidates who will be on the ballot.
Recommendations
An important part of our Advocacy Program is RPAC—the REALTORS® Political Action Committee. Think of RPAC as a joint bank account to which Realtors contribute. RPAC is the primary method by which Realtors help like-minded people successfully run for public office. In the Voter Guide, we have highlighted the candidates who have received a campaign contribution from RPAC.
How Elections Work
Most elections in our country involve multiple election days. Elections for Congress and SC General Assembly, among others, require a majority of voters to approve each winner. And these offices are partisan, meaning that the candidates are first chosen by a political party before running in the General Election in November.
The two major parties—Democratic and Republican—select their candidates in Primary Elections. In South Carolina, primaries are open to any registered voter. Voters don’t need to be a member of the political party to vote in their primary, although some members of the South Carolina Republic Party would like to change that.
But not all political parties use the primary method. In fact, the primaries are relatively new, only becoming widely used in the early 1970s. Prior to that, the parties chose their candidates in party conventions and the “third parties,” like Libertarian and Green parties, still choose their candidates in conventions.
That’s why you vote in June and again in November.
Early Voting
Another recent phenomenon is early voting. South Carolina has had absentee voting for decades but following COVID, early voting for any voter was instituted. Early voting last two weeks and opens May 26 for the primaries.
REALTORS®, Vote!
More than 90% of Realtors are registered to vote, which is fantastic. But how many of you vote?
We know many people don’t vote because they don’t have good information about the candidates, or where to vote. That’s why we prepare the Voter Guide.
Whether you vote on June 9, or you vote early, your government affairs team encourages you to Vote!
Redistricting?
We know some of you may be wondering about the redistricting that is in the news, and whether the primaries will be delayed. Our answer is we don’t know yet. However, based on what has already passed in the SC House, redistricting will only affect the seven seats in the US House from South Carolina.
So, we don’t think it will delay any other primaries other than US House. And, if the SC Senate does not pass the legislation, it won’t delay the primaries for the US House seats either. But even if it does, there are many more offices on the ballot. We’ve listed them below. And we hope to have a definitive answer next week.
Which offices are on the ballot?
These are the offices on the primary ballot:
- SC Governor and Lt. Governor
- SC Secretary of State
- SC Treasurer
- SC Attorney General
- SC Comptroller General
- SC Commissioner of Agriculture
- SC Superintendent of Education
- US Senate
- US House District 3
- SC 13th District Solicitor
- SC House (all districts)
- Anderson County Council (all seats)
- Oconee County Council (districts 1 and 3)
- Pickens County Council (districts 1 and 2)
- Probate Judge (all counties)
Support RPAC
You can help your industry by supporting RPAC. It’s easy. Your association includes a voluntary contribution to RPAC on your annual dues invoice. Pay it, and you are an RPAC supporter. If you haven’t supported RPAC this year, we encourage you to do so by clicking here.
Addie Patterson and Michael Dey
Government Affairs Team Western Upstate Association of REALTORS